The First Law Trilogy
by Joe Abercrombie · first published 2016
88% recommend12% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Dark, gritty fantasy that twists genre tropes with surprisingly funny, page-turning storytelling. Vivid, flawed, sympathetic characters drive it; suits readers who want grimmer fantasy than the usual heroic fare.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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…action that is fresh every time and, most of all the ship names... of the ship names are just amazingly ... just go and read it already - in fantasy (or, dark fantasy, perhaps) genre Joe Abercrombie's "First law" trilogy is an gut wrenchingly entertaining trope-twisting joyride, starting from "The Blade Itself" http://www.amazon.com/The-Blade-Itself-First-Law/dp/15910259... that is worth reading for the hilarious character…
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗…New Jim Crow - Night Sci-fi: - We - The Sirens of Titan - Hyperion - Stories of Your Life - Frankenstein - The Day of the Triffids - Childhood's End Fantasy: - The Stormlight Archives - The First Law Trilogy - The Lord of the Rings Literature: - The Stranger - Dubliners - Things I've Learned from Dying - The Things They Carried - Cloud Atlas - Stoner - Pillars of the Earth
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie (the Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and the Last Argument of Kings). They're quite dark but surprisingly funny and maybe the most readable novels I've ever read. Absolute page-turners.
on “Ask HN: Favorite fiction books of 2018?” ↗…books 4-8. Books 10-12 really pick up the pace again. I believe that's when Sanderson took over for the late Robert Jordan. If you enjoy somewhat grittier fiction, I would suggest Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy.
on “My Favorite Books 2020” ↗Joe Abercrombie's books (the First Law trilogy and three semi-sequels) hit some of the same notes. If anything, even grimmer in outlook, and with a substantial dose of dark "British humour". Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains is alright, dude tries…
on “Entitlement issues (2009)” ↗Right now: The Poet by Michael Connelly. Very interesting crime novel. Before that: Best served cold by Joe Abercrombie. A great fantasy novel, the fourth after the First Law trilogy. I recommend it to fantasy lovers! It is standalone but I recommend reading The First Law first to have more info about characters and the universe of this novel.
on “Ask HN: What books are you currently reading?” ↗You are right, the story can be good even with flat characters, but personally I end up rereading and rewatching ones where all the characters are vivid with their good and bad sides. Such as First law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie — every main character is a fucking living person
on “What makes a character memorable?” ↗…like a modern take on the Abramelin, don’t recall the author’s name, but it’s very much into the symbolic/mystic/esoteric ways and very revealing to that side without explicitly stating any “secrets” First Law trilogy, by Abercrombie. This is what Gritty Fantasy should read like. It’s got scenes in them that I want to reread the books just to get to. Really hope these would be made into a series or films, as the cinematography…
on “Ask HN: Which books have you read more than once?” ↗…is especially fun. If you haven't tried Lisp, this is a great book to start with, and it will open your mind to new approaches to computing without the tough academic grinding of SICP. 2) Fiction: The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's dark fantasy. Emphasis on dark. Feels like real life, except less victimology. I find the darkness a palate cleanser, excellent for when I have to deal with the realities of…
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you read in 2020?” ↗> I would suggest Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy Agree - I really enjoyed this. I particularly liked that many of the characters who would traditionally be the bad guys are treated sympathetically, and their 'badness' is motivated by their personal…
on “My Favorite Books 2020” ↗The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Grim and gritty, with phenomenal character development that hones in on the fallibility of people. The narration by Steven Pacey is incredible, if you'd like to go that route.
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie starts with a fantastic inversion of this writing advice that sets you up for the tone of the entire series's humor, I highly recommend it!
on “Dungeons and Dragons taught me how to write alt text” ↗Try "Best served cold" by Joe Abercrombie. Followed by The Heroes. And to avoid minor spoilers, read the First Law trilogy first. All good books are great, The heroes is probably the best!
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗…Painted House (John Grisham) 04. A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles) 05. The Great Alone (Kristin Hannah) 06. All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr) 07. Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer) 08. The First Law Trilogy (Joe Abercrombie) * this encompasses three long books; however, I consider them one long epic novel 09. Mailman (Stephen Starring Grant) 10. Demon Copperhead (Barbara Kingsolver) 11. Lessons in Chemistry…
on “Book recommendations from Hacker News?” ↗The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
on “Ask HN: What's one book you've recently read and enjoyed?” ↗